The principles on which we engaged, of which the charter of our independence is the record, were sanctioned by the laws of our being, and we but obeyed them in pursuing undeviatingly the course they called for. It issued finally in that inestimable state of freedom which alone can ensure to man the enjoyment of his equal rights.

The greatest calamity which could befall us would be submission to a government of unlimited powers.

The greatest honor of a man is in doing good to his fellow men, not in destroying them.

I believe in both a creative and personal God, a divinely ordered universe, that man has an innate moral sense, and that Jesus was a great moral teacher, perhaps the greatest the world has witnessed.

To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement

It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during my public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.